Smoke
by neko-jin72
Summary: slight AU. this is a slight turn of a oneshot from where the original series went after the fire. limp babysam. samjohndean family issues. no slash and no wincest. again: oneshot...but i might turn it into a little series later. plz R


**Disclaimer: **not mine…the boys belong to themselves as well as Kripke.

**A/N: **after reading another fanfic on here, my mind had an idea that wouldn't go away so I had to right this. Some of the info on here is correct as it was done as a study for second hand smoke on a baby's lungs done by Kent Pinkerton, a UC Davis professor of pediatric medicine, and some UC lab students. Some info, though, I had to 'tweak' to make it fit with this piece. Not all of it is accurate, but this is why they call it fan_fiction_.

The next few moments for Dean went by as a blur to his four year-old blue eyes. He remembered bringing a squirming, crying Sam out of the all too hot house quickly, yet carefully so he would not drop his little brother. He looked up at the nursery window and saw the room dyed orange. Suddenly, the nursery window broke and flames showed themselves to be the cause of the enormous heat that he had felt before taking his brother from his Dad. No sooner had he seen the window bust, Dean felt himself being grabbed and carried away from the scene by a stranger, who Dean immediately fought against, trying to get him and his brother out of this unfamiliar grasp until he heard the soothing, deep baritone voice of his father next to his ear. "I gotcha!"

Sam was still crying in his father's arms as Dean sat beside them on the Impala's hood, watching the firemen, police officers, and neighbors crowd around the image of what used to be their house, which was now engulfed with flames. While his father was cradling his little brother and talking with the police officers, Dean tried to focus on what had happened just minutes before, trying to clear up some of the fogginess in his mind.

_**Flashback…**_

_Dean was jolted awake as he heard a shrill scream emitted throughout the house. Bringing himself to a sitting position, he heard his Dad yell his Mom's name and soon fear went running through his mind. What was happening? Why was Daddy yelling for Mommy? Where was Mommy? Next, he heard loud, solid footsteps thundering up the stairs and from the speed of how his Dad got up to the second floor of the house, Dean figured he must have taken two at a time._

_Then, quietness settled through the house and Dean was starting to relax and lye back down, when he was thrown into a sitting position once again as he heard his dad start yelling, in fear. He was suddenly alert as well as scared out of his mind. His father was never afraid of anything, he wasn't afraid of the dark, monsters, thunder, nothing. So what was so scary that made his Daddy sound like that? Just as he heard his father's strangled yell, a heat so hot that he had never felt before, emerged in his room and circled around him, making it very difficult to breathe. What was happening…why did it get so hot all of a sudden?_

_Dean quickly got out of bed, tripping slightly over a toy but ignored it as he stumbled clumsily out of his room. The noise had sounded like it had come from Sammy's room so Dean crossed the upstairs hallway and started going to the nursery as he saw his Dad running out of the room with his little brother in his arms. Bending down to his eye level, his Dad thrust Sammy into his small arms hurriedly and gave him orders with a voice that Dean knew that the subject was not to be argued._

_"Take your brother outside as fast as you can! Don't look back!"_

_Noticing his oldest son's hesitation, he threw out another order just as quickly._

_"Now, Dean. Go!"_

_With his Dad's voice going through his head, Sam's loud cries, and the heat radiating onto his skin all at once, Dean did the only thing he could do. He turned and ran. Going down the steps was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be, what with Sam crying in his ear as he tried to wriggle out of his bigger brother's grasp, Dean had to adjust Sam's sliding form back into place before his brother made both of them fall. Running slightly faster as he got to the ground floor, he threw open the door as best he could with Sam hanging on his shoulder. Readjusting his little brother back into his arms once more, Dean ran down the last steps of the house, now running onto the cold grass in bare feet._

**End Flashback…**

Now as they were heading down the road to a motel for the night, Dean was in the back seat trying to calm down his now wailing brother. The firemen told John that it would extremely dangerous to go back into the house tonight and the best advice for them was to go to a motel. John more than happily obliged, not wanting to spend even one more minute in the house that he had just seen his wife murdered in. He didn't know how she was killed and put up on that ceiling or how she all of a sudden burst into flames right before his eyes in his youngest son's nursery, but those images running through his mind were easily making him stay away.

Now, he had another matter to deal with. No matter what Dean did, Sam would not stop wailing and it was starting to worry and annoy him. Yes, that fire had spooked him and he was sure that Dean was terrified, but Sam was a baby, how could he feel the terror of a fire when he wasn't even really aware of his surroundings yet? John could understand his youngest feeling all of the tension coming from his oldest son and himself during the fire, but now it had been an hour ago, almost two and Dean had calmed down as well as himself, so Sam should be calmer, too; but he wasn't. In fact, Sam was even more irate and irritable than when the fire was taking place.

"Shh…calm down, Sammy. S'okay."

The only response Dean got was even louder howls from the brown haired baby. Not being able to take it any more John pulled the Impala over on the highway and parked the car. Getting out of the car and going to the back, John climbed in and picked up his fussing son, trying to soothe him.

"Shh, baby. I got you…Shh."

Rocking the tiny infant, John was taking calming breaths as well trying not to get overly annoyed with his son. Sam was always very temperamental and not being able to talk yet, the only way Sam expressed himself was by laughing, gurgling, crying and, to the dismay of John's almost bleeding ears, screaming his head off.

The rocking motion seemed to comfort Sam for a second, but quickly the baby was back to shrieking as loud as he possibly could, much to the worry of his brother and the annoyance of his father. Soon, the shrieking became too much for even Sammy, as he got so worked up that he started coughing roughly and crying harder which in turn, made him cough harder. Noticing his baby's face getting redder and redder, John put the back of his hand to his head and felt the unhealthy heat radiating off of the boy's small head. Sweat was starting to emerge and run slowly down his son's face as Sam continued to bawl.

Not knowing what was going on with his son, and not knowing how to help him, John handed the baby to his brother.

"Hold on to him, Dean. We're going to the hospital."

Not liking the sound of his Dad's usually strong voice, Dean was about to ask questions when Sammy all of a sudden, coughed roughly and then stopped crying, his little chest not rising up and down anymore either. Panic rising into his chest, Dean yelled for his father, only to have his brother ripped from his arms a second after. Looking up into the red face of his brother, he looked up further and saw the slight panic in his father's face. Before he knew what was happening, he found his brother lying on the Impala's backseat next to him, with his Dad putting his mouth on his brother's lips, breathing into him. The panic increased and he reached out to his baby brother as he saw the little chest rise slightly on its own.

"Daddy…"

His small voice shook and he couldn't help the strangled cry that came from the back of his throat. John looked to the lost look of his eldest and with a great deal of effort, made eye contact with him.

"Dean, Sammy is having trouble breathing…I need you to breathe for your brother for me while I take us to the hospital."

Dean was scared, but…if he didn't do it, then Daddy would have to do it and we couldn't get help for Sammy… he thought desperately to himself. Making up his mind quickly, Dean looked right into his Dad's eyes with determination. "What do I have to do?"

"Here, hold him like this…" John placed a shallow breathing Sammy into Dean's awaiting arms and taught him how to breathe for Sammy whenever he thought that his brother would need help. Once, John saw that his son understood and watched him give his little brother a couple of breaths, John got back into the driver's side and floored the gas pedal, hoping that they would be able to hold onto Sammy until they could get him some real help. 'I can't lose him too…' he thought devastatingly as he put more pressure on the gas.

About thirty everlasting minutes passed, the sound of the Impala screeched into the parking lot of the hospital. Parking the car, John got to Dean's side of the backseat and thrust the door open and quickly grabbed his baby from the four year-old. "C'mon Dean. We gotta hurry."

Dean didn't need to be told twice as he threw himself out of the car and slammed the door shut and ran behind his father's quickly disappearing form. They entered the hospital and John ran right up to the reception desk where a young girl was inserting files onto the computer. She noticed them before John could reach her. Noticing the state of the baby in his arms and the condition of the breathless boy behind him, she put her attention to the tall man in front of her.

"What happened?"

"We need a doctor, right now. There was a fire and he's having trouble breathing." John growled out, trying to show the importance of the matter.

The young brunette picked up the phone next to her and dialed a quick number before yelling into the phone.

"I need doctor Tanaka over at the reception hall NOW! There is an infant who is going into shock as well as having breathing complications."

She hung up and not even two minutes later a young women doctor came hurrying into the hall with a team and a gurney behind her. She quickly grabbed the baby from his father's grasp and placed him on the gurney as a nurse put a breathing mask over his tiny mouth and nose. Then, the doctor looked at the man in front of her, who was glaring at how easily she took his child from him.

"Are you the father?" she asked as the team was rolling away the small child into an elevator.

"Yes. Where are you taking my son?"

"He is going up to the children's ward as soon as we have a proper look at him. This is very serious Mr.…"

"Winchester, like the gun."

"Mr. Winchester. How did this happen?"

"There was a fire and he wouldn't stop crying. We were going to a motel for the night and then, he stopped breathing." John ran his hand through his hair with a deep, worn out sigh. Saying it out loud made it real, even though he didn't want it to be.

Seeing the tired father and looking down at the panicked son, she looked back up to the father sympathetically. "I am sorry, Mr. Winchester…we will run some tests on your son…"

"Sam."

"OK. We will run a few tests on Sam and stabilize him. Then you two can go see him."

Running a hand through his hair again, all he could do at the time was sigh and bring Dean closer to him. "Thank You."

She left briskly and John turned with his son and went to two nearby waiting chairs. Sitting down, he turned to his oldest. "You ok, Dean?"

All this time, Dean had been silent and watching what was going on around him. With every minute going by he grew more worried about his baby brother. Looking up to his father, he told him what was running through his mind.

"Is Sammy going to be ok, Daddy? Why didn't he wake up when we got here? Is he sick?"

John just looked at his son and saw how young his four year-old looked right now, with big, round eyes, tears not yet falling down his cheeks. He was too young to be worrying about things like this. Processing what Dean had said, John noticed how alert his son was to the situation. Right after Sam stopped breathing for the first time, he kept slipping in and out of consciousness and John didn't know if baby's could do that or not without damage being done, but how could he tell his son that? It would just make things worse.

"He's going to be ok, Dean…If he is sick, then they can make him better, here."

"OK."

John saw the raw trust that Dean had for him and it made him feel even worse. What if Sam didn't get better? What if they couldn't help him, what would he say to Dean then?

After about an hour had passed and they still couldn't see Sam. Dean had fallen asleep on his father's lap, but woke up when he felt someone walk up and start talking to his father.

"Mr. Winchester. I need to take Dean with me for a little while so we can run some tests on him. It will only be for about 15 minutes, then he can come back."

"Why do you need Dean? This is about Sammy, what's happening with my son?!" John's voice was getting higher in volume with every question he asked.

"Right now Sam is stable and sleeping, but we still need to run a few more tests. We need to see Dean because of the fire. Smoke can damage a child's lungs very severely if not caught in time, it is just a precaution, I assure you."

John didn't want Dean to go with the doctor. He knew he was acting like a child, especially since he was a man who had children, but he didn't want them to take Dean away too, like Sam had been taken.

Dr. Tanaka saw the hesitation in his eyes and her own eyes softened.

"Mr. Winchester, I know it's hard to see your children in a place like this and know that you can't help them, trust me, I have three of my own. I promise, Dean will be with me at all times and as soon as he's done with the examination, I will bring him back here."

"Alright." John turned to the 'sleeping' child on his lap. "Dean, wake up Son."

Dean shifted and turned his now open eyes to his father. "Dad?"

"I need you to go with Dr…."

"Dr. Tanaka."

"But…"

"No 'buts' son, go with her. You can trust her."

Dean looked up to the smiling women. Nodding her head, she laid out a hand for him to grab. "When we are done, Dean, I will bring you back to your Dad."

After looking to his father, who gave a slight nod, Dean slipped out of the chair and put his hand in hers.

After all the tests were done, Dean was currently walking with the nice Doctor lady back to the waiting room to be with his dad again. Seeing his father from a distance he ran towards him. Once John saw who the little thundering footsteps belonged to, he got out of his chair and opened his arms only to have a little body hurl themselves into his chest only moments after. Looking up from the hug with his son, John noticed Dr. Tanaka standing there, waiting to talk to him. Releasing his son, he straightened and looked at the doctor expectantly.

"Dean is fine, Mr. Winchester…it's Sam that I would like to talk to you about."

Complete dread washed over him as mental images of his baby crying, gasping, and not breathing filled his already plagued mind.

"Wh-What's wrong?! Is he going to be okay?!"

"Oh, I am sorry to startle you so badly, Mr. Winchester. Little Sam is fine and is resting peacefully, at the moment. But there are some, issues, that I need you to understand."

"Issues?"

"Yes. That is why we needed to see Dean. I told you earlier smoke could be very dangerous to be around when you are a child. Well, Dean has passed the tests and has very healthy lungs, it seems that the smoke from the fire hasn't caused any damage to his respiratory system at all. –"

John smiled as the good news registered in his mind, however that smile vanished when the doctor continued talking.

"- However, I am afraid that Sam isn't as fortunate. While doing the tests, my team and I discovered that the smoke from the fire was causing Sam's alveoli to rupture at an alarming rate."

Looking at the two confused faces in front of her, she knew that she was going to have to explain.

"Alveoli are the place where oxygen passes from the lungs into the bloodstream. Infants are born with only about one-fifth of the 300 million alveoli they will need as adults. They construct almost all of those 300 million alveoli between birth and age eight."

John nodded, signally that he understood and for her to continue.

"Well, during the tests with Sam, we noticed that he had developed hyper-reactive, or 'ticklish' airways, which typically occurs in children and adults with asthma. With his lungs still under development, my diagnosis is that, because of this fire, Sam is more than likely going to develop the symptoms of a person with asthma in which, his lungs may never will be able to recover."

In the middle of her explanation, John needed to sit down. His baby, his little brown haired, brown eyes, stubborn baby was in the hospital, with a chance of having asthmatic symptoms that may never recover, all because a fire, that wasn't able to be explained.

Rubbing his head in his hands, he looked up at the doctor. "Can we see him?"

She smiled a sad smile at the broken family before her. "Sure, follow me."

They got to the children's ward and went straight down the hall to the shut door on the far left. Inside it was like a blow to John's stomach. White was all you could see. There, before him was his tiny little 6 month old, on a breathing ventilator. The sight of his normally hyper child laying there, wires hooked up to him, not being able to breathe on his own, broke the already devastated man's heart. Walking up to the little incubator, with Dean following right behind him, John looked sadly at his baby's innocent face.

"I'll leave you three alone."

With a snap of the door being shut, John felt something pull at his pant leg. Looking down he saw his oldest one, trying to look at his brother, but the bed was too high for him. Bending down, John scooped Dean up into his arms and they both looked at the sleeping child.

"Sammy."

The one almost silent word, uttered by his big brother was the only thing the little chubby child needed to hear to open his eyes wide and yawned. Looking up, he found his brother and father looking at him and his face broke out into a smile as he gurgled happily, not knowing what was going on or what was happening to him. He just knew that he felt happy looking at these two people before him. With another gurgle, he raised both of his arms and Dean leaned down and grabbed one of the chubby hands.

A tiny little squeal of laughter reached John's ears and he looked into the happy faces of both his sons. He was so grateful that they were fine and with him, but he had to find out what had made that fire. Why did Mary have to die, and why had that fire started, causing this whole mess? He made a promise to himself that day; no matter what, he would find out the reasons for that fire and his wife's death.

* * *

**A/N:** yea, this was just an idea that popped into my head after reading a really good fic. it was called Out Of Our Element. i recommend reading it. anyway, tell me what you think about it. like it, hate it, what to throw it off a cliff? Review and tell me. i might make a tiny little series but i dunno yet.


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